
The Lunch Box
The Lunch Box (TLB) is an online toolkit that provides free step-by-step guides, tools, recipes and other resources to help schools improve their meal programs and convert to scratch-cooking.
See how our signature program ties into our Theory of Change here.

The Lunch Box
The Lunch Box (TLB) is an online toolkit that provides free step-by-step guides, tools, recipes and other resources to help schools improve their meal programs and convert to scratch-cooking.
See how our signature program ties into our Theory of Change here.
For many students across the country, school meals can be the most nutritious meal of the entire day, but too often these meals are highly processed. Schools don’t have the operational knowledge or experience required to provide fresh, healthy, and delicious food in a cook from scratch operation.


For many students across the country, school meals can be the most nutritious meal of the entire day, but too often these meals are highly processed. Schools don’t have the operational knowledge or experience required to provide fresh, healthy, and delicious food in a cook from scratch operation.
The Lunch Box is specifically designed to support school district food service teams as they transition their meal programs from processed to scratch cook using fresh ingredients. With open source resources that provide technical support, school districts are able to use The Lunch Box to expand their capacity and ensure that healthy food reaches even more kids each and every day. Users have free access to scalable and downloadable recipes, USDA compliant menu cycles, procurement tools, financial calculators, implementation strategies for salad bars, training tools, marketing materials such as posters and signs, and much more!
TLB offers:
- Relevant, up-to-date operational content and resources that enable school districts to serve healthy, scratch-cooked meals
- Information about programs and opportunities that solve common problems experienced by school food service teams
- Tools for marketing and promoting their lunch program and healthy eating
Our Impact |
25,061
registered users |
106,643
resources downloaded |
143,837
total users YTD |
Our Impact |
25,061
registered users |
106,643
resources downloaded |
143,837
total users YTD |
You have a wealth of valuable information for school districts to use. Thanks for all you do in providing schools with the tools they need to provide nutritious meals to our students.
Program Targeted Outcomes
Reach more schools with free, relevant, and up-to-date content and resources that enable cooking healthy, scratch cooked meals
Educate food service professionals on the programs and opportunities that solve common problems experienced by school food service teams
Motivate and support schools with content that covers a wide range of school food operator needs, including financial management
Program Details
The Lunch Box is the largest online resource for scratch cooking in schools. It is designed specifically to support school district food service teams as they transition their food programs from processed foods to scratch cooking with fresh ingredients.
The online toolkit provides technical support to help districts expand their services, ensuring that healthy food reaches more kids every day. Users have free access to:
- Scalable and downloadable recipes
- Examples of USDA compliant menu cycles
- Procurement tools
- Financial calculator
- Implementation strategies for salad bars and school breakfast
- Training tools
- Marketing materials such as posters and signs
- Much more!
Program Flyer
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